


On Edge

by CourierNinetyTwo



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2012-12-02
Packaged: 2017-11-20 03:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/pseuds/CourierNinetyTwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyreen learns two secrets in one night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Edge

It was a breach in security. Nyreen knew she shouldn't have been able to get this high.

Crouched on a wide pipe, she looked down over a private alcove. It was Aria's personal property; she'd seen the subtle marking in the tunnels below, followed an old ladder up a maintenance shaft and found herself in the perfect position for an ambush. Someone needed to seal that vent, lest an enterprising explorer find their way into Omega's labyrinth.

The area itself was of little note - it seemed to be an old firing range. An encrypted lock kept looters from wandering in, but there wasn't much to take unless a tech went to the trouble of unanchoring the holo-targeting modules. A mish-mash of assault rifles and pistols, most of them bearing the tags of different merc companies, were racked at waist-height. Two boxes of clips had been shoved underneath, one for full, one for empty. The floor was plain concrete, worn smooth from old footsteps.

Nyreen appreciated the sparse efficiency, but she wondered why Aria wasn't using it to store drugs or eezo equipment. The matriarch was always having to reroute shipments to prevent theft; the free room here would have been invaluable.

Her boot scraped on the pipe as she turned to climb back down the ladder. She'd tell the asari about the missing seal on the shaft when she went back to the club. Aria had given Nyreen the night off after showing her the tunnels, but work came first. She wouldn't be a very good lieutenant if she let her leisure take priority over a security matter.

The door down below hissed open and the turian froze, head jerking to glance over her shoulder. One hand went to unholster her pistol, ready to level it on the intruder. The sights locked the moment Nyreen caught a glimpse of slate blue skin above a white collar, the curve of a familiar jaw. Her eyes flickered to the dark stripe bisecting Aria's lip, the flash of white teeth as the matriarch spoke. There was a small, black case under one of the asari's arms. Lowering the gun, Nyreen settled back against the pipe, hoping silence would conceal her presence where the shadows did not.

A second asari followed Aria into the room. She was young, barely over a hundred if Nyreen was reading the markers right. It was always hard to tell. The maiden was in traditional commando leather, the symbol for Omega emblazoned on one shoulder. One of Aria's employees, albeit not one Nyreen was familiar with. Then again, Aria preferred that Nyreen worked solitary recon.

"Why do I have to learn to use a knife?" The younger asari asked.

Her walk could only be described as a casual swagger, a sinuous movement that was all in the hips. Nyreen expected that more from the dancers than a soldier, but the maiden seemed to be projecting confidence instead of seduction. Like she was untouchable.

"Because guns run out of ammunition, Liselle. They jam. They overheat." Aria set the box down and keyed in a code. The lock popped open, although the contents were still obscured from Nyreen's position. "And when you have a lot of enemies, some of those people will try to get smart and rig a weapon to explode in your hands."

"I don't have a lot of enemies." Liselle replied, crossing her arms.

"You will." Aria said.

The matriarch pulled a pair of knives out of the case, turning them over in her hands. One was serrated, the blade ending in a sharp hook. Nyreen recognized the design, the black steel so the knife didn't reflect under light. An entire special forces regiment in the turian military still carried them for tradition's sake. The second possessed a smooth blade with a heavier hilt, the grooves meant for a five-fingered hand.

"This is turian." Aria raised the first knife, eyes locked on Liselle. "They used them in the Rebellions to take down krogan at close range. If they could reach a weak point, the armpit or behind the knee, they plunged in the blade and used the hook to start ripping away armor, natural or otherwise. It can cause enough pain in a single pull to stagger someone and leave them open to a killing blow. Just enough time before a krogan starts regenerating."

Nyreen didn't expect the sudden shine in Liselle's eyes, the excited smile. "Have you ever used one?"

Aria let out a soft laugh, placing the turian blade down. "Yes. I learned from a friend when I was a commando. He said they worked just as well on everyone else. And they do."

"You expecting me to take down another Patriarch?" Liselle asked. "Or just a lot of Blood Pack?"

Nyreen's mandibles tensed as she idly flexed her muscles, trying to keep the blood flow moving so her body wouldn't get stiff and force a shift. The maiden didn't look like a would-be assassin. She knew they came in all shapes and sizes on Omega, but the attitude was wrong. Liselle was paying attention out of prurient interest in the weaponry, not trying to learn a lesson.

"I expect you to defend what's yours." Aria said, turning on her heel and walking over to the targets.

She stopped in front of one that had a solid frame, marked with the positions of vital organs and pressure points for more than half a dozen species. The matriarch pressed her hand against its abdomen, felt the slight give that helped cushion bare hands when it was practiced with. Her fingers traveled until centering on the marker for the human stomach.

"This blade's an asari design. Better for single targets instead of taking out multiple opponents." Aria positioned the tip of the blade right at the marker, her thumb sliding back. "It's ceramic, so your average weapons scanner will miss it. When you push it in, wait just a breath."

Nyreen barely saw Aria's arm tense before the blade plunged into the dummy. She held her breath; so did Liselle.

The dummy exploded. Nyreen had to physically stop herself from dropping down off the pipe to see what had gone wrong. Aria seemed to be unharmed, even if pieces of foam were sticking to her jacket. The matriarch brushed them away and took a step back, revealing the giant crater in the torso. She unscrewed the hilt of the knife and turned back to Liselle, who was shocked still until she met the older asari's eyes.

"There's a button on the hilt and a canister inside." Aria said, reattaching the blade. "It's highly pressurized, forced into the body. The trauma is intense. It'll stop almost anyone, even if you're not aiming for somewhere important. And if you are, they'll have to hope their doctors can replace several organs at once before they bleed out."

"Fuck, why didn't you warn me?" Liselle's cheeks were slightly flushed, embarrassment clear. She had flinched.

"Because now you'll never accidentally press the button." Aria laughed softly, lowering the knife. The sound faded as she took a step forward, placing two of her fingers beneath Liselle's chin and gently tilting the maiden's head up.

Nyreen's jaw tightened slightly. She was used to Aria's casual boundaries for a lot of things; language, privacy, but rarely touch. The other lieutenants didn't even know they were sleeping together, as far as she was aware. To see Aria touching someone else so easily was discomfiting.

"You know I'm proud of you." Aria intoned, voice low as she kept her eyes locked on Liselle's. "You know your mother would be."

The maiden's eyes squeezed shut for just a second before she let out a ragged breath, all the tension easing from her frame. Aria's hand fell away. "I never get to spend time with you unless it's a lesson."

Aria frowned. "I was at your birthday party last month."

"You were sitting on the opposite side of the club and let me have the bar free for the night." Liselle said. "Anto had to give me my present."

"Liselle-" The matriarch's voice rose, getting sharper.

"I know." Liselle took a step back, eyes averting. "I know."

"It's not that I don't want to." Putting both knives back into the box, Aria pushed down on the case until it closed. "You're my daughter, Liselle, even if you don't have my blood."

Nyreen felt her spine turn to ice. She blinked, playing the words over again in her head. Aria had never mentioned having a child, much less wanting any. Not a single whisper. The turian tried to remember if she had seen Liselle before and where; the only memories that came to mind were glimpses in the crowd of Afterlife, in the lines of mercenaries. Aria had her hidden in plain sight. The maiden was a better actress than she'd possibly imagined, to spend every day keeping that secret.

And she wasn't supposed to know. Nyreen stopped herself from letting out a sigh; now she was complicit. If Liselle walked into the club, she couldn't pay attention, couldn't voice concern. Aria was carrying it alone, like so many other things.

"The lesson's over already?" The maiden asked.

Aria shook her head. "We'll do more next week. I'll show you how to conceal both and draw them without making any noise. Then you can learn how to do the deed."

The matriarch glanced over her shoulder to look at Liselle and Nyreen could read the blatant exhaustion in Aria's face. It was subtle; a slight dullness to the eyes, the way her head dropped a few centimeters.  


"For now, let's go back to your apartment and have a drink. You can take the street; I'll take the tunnels."

Liselle's smile was radiant, if quickly muted. Nyreen would have laughed if she could risk the sound; the maiden was still learning Aria's lessons.

"You're the best, dad." The maiden smirked.

"Call me that again and I'll have you checking the vents for dead miners for a year." Aria said, handing the case to Liselle. "Take this and go. I'll follow after in a few minutes."

"Don't be too long. I'll drink all the bourbon."

Liselle left, the soft scuff of her boots the only sound until the door closed. Nyreen knew Aria could levitate with biotics, could use the power to force a gravity-defying jump. No wonder the maintenance shaft was still unsealed; the matriarch was using the room.

"You can come down now, Nyreen." Aria said.

The turian froze before slowly leaning her head over the edge of the pipe. "Aria?"

"I heard you take a breath after I called Liselle my daughter."

The matriarch could hide a lot of things, but anger was her release valve. When it rose to the surface, there was no hesitation, no subtlety. Nyreen saw the slight flare of Aria's nostils, the tense jaw. One hand slowly clenching into a fist.

"I'm sorry." Nyreen swung her feet over the side, finding her balance. She could leap onto the top of one display and climb the rest of the way down. "I was exploring the tunnels and I found a ladder. I thought it was...a weak spot."

Aria let out a soft laugh, at odds with the rage shaking her frame. "That's one way of putting it."

Nyreen's mandible twitched. "I won't tell anyone. You know I won't."

"If you do," She let out a deep breath, head tilting up to meet the turian's eyes directly. "I'll-"

"You don't have to say it." Muscle tensed as Nyreen's bodyweight was taken onto her arms, preparing her for the swing.

She dropped in one smooth motion, settling for a roll to soften her descent. Finding herself at Aria's feet wasn't intentional, but it seemed appropriate. Nyreen stood up and adjusted her hood. Up close, the turian could see the hurt hiding behind the anger in Aria's expression, the primal fear of losing someone close. She didn't know if that meant her, or Liselle, or both.

"I know you'd kill me." Nyreen said. "And I understand."

"Did you ever have any daughters? Or sons?" Aria asked, her hand finally relaxing.

The turian had never heard the question before. For all their nights spent together, discussing battles and triumphs, eking out personal histories piece by pieces, Aria hadn't asked once. Nyreen realized now she had been avoiding the subject entirely, avoiding drawing someone else into the lie.

"No." She finally said. "I never thought about it."

"Liselle's mine. She has her mother's face, those flecks of white on her skin, so no one would ever know by looking." Aria shook her head. "But she's mine. There's fire in her blood."

Nyreen knew it was a risk, but she reached out anyway, letting the edge of her talons drift over the front of Aria's jacket. The matriarch tensed, but she didn't pull away.

"I'll never say another word about this. Not even to you." 

Her fingers caught on the collar, but before Nyreen's hand could fall away, Aria placed hers over it. They stood there stone still until the matriarch leaned forward, tilting her head up. Nyreen met the kiss carefully, not surprised when she felt the asari's fingers grip tight.

"Go back to Afterlife." Aria whispered against Nyreen's mouth. "I'll let you upstairs when I'm done."

"Are you sure?" The turian couldn't help but ask.

"If I don't relax now, I'll put Gavorn through a window for playing with his assault rifle too much." Aria pulled away, slowly. "Or something else I'll regret the next day."

"Alright." Nyreen said. "I'll be waiting."

She could have climbed back up to the pipe, but with Aria's eyes on her, it was easier to go out the door. Nyreen was used to keeping secrets, but not ones like Aria's. They carried the weight of centuries, of an untold cost. How much blood had been spilled for every year of Liselle's life? 

And yet, Nyreen had never thought Aria was capable. The word 'family' was never voiced; thinking that the matriarch had a mate, had someone close enough to have a daughter with, was a revelation in itself. There was something deeper, beneath the emotional barriers Aria wore like a hardsuit. 

It would be enough. For now.


End file.
